MALTA IN THE EUThe first Decade of Membership

PROF Roderick PaceDirector & Jean Monnet Chair

INSTITUTE FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence

UNIVERSITY OF MALTA

Aerial view of the Capital, Valletta

The First Decade of Membership

BROAD OVERALL ASSESSMENT

MOST OF THE POSITIVE OUTCOMES PREDICTED HAVE BEEN FULLFILLED

MOST OF THE NEGATIVE OUTCOMES PREDICTED HAVE BEEN UNFULLFILLED

MALTA HAS COPED REASONABLY WELL

APPLICATION OF EU NORMS AND EU LAW

• Joined EMU and introduced the Euro in 2008• Malta was capable of an orderly changeover maintaining tight price

controls in the transitional phase• Liberalization of the market by removing the last tariffs on imports in

2004 – downward pressure on prices.• Full liberalization of capital movements – no capital drain• Independent Central Bank which participates in the European System

of Central Banks • 2008 – Privatization of the heavily subsidized, loss making Dockyards

Further….

• Free Movement of Labour more foreigners working in Malta but unemployment is still reasonably low

• The Maltese economy was largely unaffected by the financial crisis.

Some Brief Indicators

GDP PER CAPITA IN PPS

• In 2004 all Central and Eastern European New member States were below Malta while Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and Slovenia were above.

• In 2013, Malta remains above the Central and Eastern European countries and has overtaken Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and Slovenia and closed the gap with a number of other states above it.

UNEMPLOYMENT / EMPLOYMENT RATE

EMPLOYMENT20-64 years

UNEMPLOYMENT

2004 57.9% 7.2%

201464.9%

Europe 2020 Target 75%

6.8%

EMPLOYMENT BY GENDER

MALE FEMALE2004 81.2% 34.3%2013 79.5% 49.8%

CHALLENGES AHEAD

• Increase R&D expenditure to 3% of GDP – in 2012 it was 0.84% above the target for that year but still below the 2020 Target

• at least 40% of 30 to 34 year olds to have completed tertiary or equivalent education – in 2013 it was 26%, Malta Target is 33%

• Reduce the Rate of Early School Leavers to 10% - in 2013 it was 20.9%

• Increase the share of renewables in final energy consumption to 10% - in 2012 it was still 1.4%

…. AND…

• Correct fiscal deficit by 2014• Strengthen independent Institutions to monitor public finances• Reform health care system to make it more sustainable• Accelerate Pension Reform• Continue efforts to increase the efficiency and reduce the length of

public procurement procedures; encourage alternatives to debt-financing of companies by facilitating access to capital markets and developing venture capital funds;

• and increase the efficiency of the judicial system by ensuring a timely and efficient implementation of the planned judicial reform.

GovernanceImplementation of Directives

Malta EU Average

Pending Infringement Procedures 12 30

Transposition Deficit 0.1 0.7Number of Directives, 2 years or more overdue 0 0.6

Compliance Deficit 0.3 0.7Transposition delay in months 19.2 7.3

BROAD OBSERVATIONS

National Politics:

1. Since 2004 end of party Euroscepticism – no Eurosceptic party has come close to electing at least one deputy to the national parliament (65-69) seats in a proportional representation system.

2. Solid national consensus on EU membership and objectives

3. European Elections have helped change the domestic political party balance (see next table) and strengthened the participation of women in politics

Shifts in Perceptions on Neutrality

A. Malta’s neutrality has been inserted in the Constitution since 1987 and requires a two thirds parliamentary majority to amend.

B. Malta has declared that its neutrality does not impede it from participating in the CFSP as long as decisions leading to a common defence are still taken unanimously.

C. There is bi-partisan agreement in Malta that the definition of neutrality needs revising but no concrete steps forward have been taken so far.

D. Malta participates in key EU military and civilian peace operations EU NAVFOR (Somalia), EU Training Mission in Somalia (Uganda) and the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia amongst others.

NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP)

Malta joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace in 1995 and suspended membership in 1996.

Malta re-joined PfP in 2008

EUROPEAN ELECTIONSsince the Lisbon Treaty Malta’s MEPs have been

increased from 5 to 6Nationalist

PartyLabour Party Male Female

2004 2 3 5 02009 2 4 6 02009* 2 4 3 32014 3 3 2 4* In 2013 three MEPs contested the national election and were elected.

Further Political Changes

• Both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition are former MEPs

• Two Ministers are former MEPs

• Parliament has begun to model itself more on the European Parliament – lobbying for more independence, more human and material support to do its work

• Established since 1995 (in preparation for membership) Standing Parliamentary Committees and temporary committees and working groups.

Changes in the Operation of the

National Parliament

The Setting up in 1995 of the Foreign and European Affairs Committee which has the task of scrutinizing EU legislative proposals and apply subsidiarity test

MAIN CHALLENGES: lack of personnel, eight weeks to complete its scrutiny is considered short.

Advantages: strengthened links between the Maltese Parliament, the European Parliament and other EU national parliaments and more participation in COSAC

Further Political/Public Changes (2)

Semi-independent authorities have been established to oversee the implementation of certain EU standards and norms in preparation for

and following membership: • Malta Environment Protection Authority• Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority• Malta Financial Services Authority• Malta Resources Authority• Malta Medicines Authority• Malta Communications Authority

DISCUSSION OF SOME MAIN IMPLICATIONS OF MEMBERSHIP

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

1. Malta’s six EP seats mean that it benefits from degressive proportionality but the MEPs are fewer than the parliamentary committees whose work needs to be scrutinized.

1.1 Possible Solution: greater co-operation with MEPs from the respective political groups1.2 Closer co-operation between the Maltese MEPs themselves.

COUNCIL OF THE EU AND EU COUNCILAND OTHER EU RELATED BODIES

1. Maltese Ministers attend all 10 Council of the EU configurations including the newly formed Foreign Affairs Council.

2. The Prime Minister attends the European Council meetings.3. A Permanent Representation (less than 50 personnel) based in

Brussels - COREPER4. Officials from Malta who travel every week to attend various

Council Working Parties, Committees and Task Forces5. EU Secretariate at the Ministry for EU Affairs which is in charge of

the implementation of EU policy and funds

Council…

6. EU Affairs Departments in most ministries

7. The Planning and Priorities Co-ordination Committee to manage the EU Structural and cohesion Funds

8. MEUSAC – Malta-EU Action and Steering Committee to engage civil society and carryout public consultation on various themes.

Most important deficiencies

Small population size means Malta has a shortage of human capacity to devote to EU matters – BUT IT IS COPING WELL

• Strong and more immediate direct communication between services and personnel involved, due to smallness there are not too many bureaucratic layers. Co-ordination with MEPs

• Hiring of external consultancy services• Co-operation and exchange of expertise with fellow member states

according to the issue.• Monitoring the positions taken by other Member states

• Prioritizing issues and looking out for directives which could affect its more important economic sectors such as:

- Taxation and the financial services sector- Maritime law and fisheries (tuna fishing)- Online gaming- Pharmaceuticals• EU membership means that Malta has more sources of information

than it had as a non members• Can influence the outcome on its priority issues from their initial stages

• Structural and Cohesion Funds 2007-13 €885 million grant (at constant 2007 prices)

• Structural and Cohesion Funds 2014-20 €1.128 billion grant (at constant 2014 prices)

• EUREMA – EU relocation of asylum seekers from Malta to other EU member states.